The March Craftsy Blocks-of-the-Month taught us two ways to do foundation piecing and both were a lot of fun!
The first block is the String Block and you sew strips of fabric right onto a base square of muslin. The foundation fabric acts as a guide and when you are done and you simply trim off all the over-hang of the strips of fabric to end up with a perfect square 1/4 block. Join 4 of these together to get this amazing, scrappy design. Of course, the seams are a bit bulkier with this method since you are adding the foundation fabric into the mix.
The second block is the Broken Spider Web and this time you use a base square of fabric cut into fourths (to make 4 triangles) as the foundation. While sewing the strips onto the muslin is similar to the String Block, with this technique the base fabric is pulled back before stitching. In this way it is simply a guide for sewing and does not become part of the block (only the first strip is attached to the base making the centre star). After sewing and trimming the over-hang, the excess flap of foundation fabric is trimmed off at the 1/4" seam and the resulting block is much less bulky than the String Block.
I discovered (after the first triangle) that sewing just inside the guide line resulted in better star points and to save time, I also realized that I could stitch strips on either side of the triangle both at the same time while at the sewing machine. Otherwise, it's sew a strip, press, trim...sew a strip, press, trim. I did two sides at a time (sew 2 strips, press, trim) and that made the process go a whole lot faster!
This block turned out a 1/4" larger than I anticipated so I'm starting to wonder if getting my blocks all together in a quilt at the end of this project will actually happen! It will be a miracle! Some of my blocks are too small...some are too large. Not by much either way and I don't have enough experience to know if this will be a big problem at the end. We don't know yet how Amy Gibson will suggest assembling the finished quilt and whether sashing will be involved or what. I'll have to wait another 9 months to find out. Amy will have to wait a little less than that to find out what her baby looks like!...yep, she's expecting her 3rd child so I predict she will be a little bit busy at that time to critique my quilt!
Amy's blog is fantastic and she has the most beautiful photography, children, and quilts. Check it out if you'd like some quilty inspiration! http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/ She won't reveal any hints about April's blocks but at least I don't have to wait too long to find out!